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The new research station looks well designed and fun to interact with. Nice new model. The pop-out info panel is a nice touch.

Did you guys replace the surface and underground oxygen "nuggets" model? If so, those look nice. I seem to recall them being sharp & spiky. They look more like "lumps" of solid oxygen which is good.

I agree with the other folks about the magenta-on-blue for the backpack catalog text. Yuck.

Also for the backpack catalog, it was a nice touch to allow the PC users to use the direction keyboard keys to control the interface (instead of making us mouse click the direction arrows on-screen). That was a thoughtful inclusion.

I'm liking the new resource colors now that you've matched them to the real world. I do miss the contrast that the resin had before with the purple against the lighter colored ground, but not asking for anything different.

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I cannot map any of the keyboard control settings to my mouse (Logitech G400s), when I try nothing happens. Custom control mapping only works for keyboard. 4k resolution still unsupported on PC.

Lately my logitech software had been crashing - I updated that and haven't seen it do this. I use their setpoint with my performance MX mouse. The trick it to bind the extra mouse buttons to letters, then bind the letter in game. This isn't ideal, but it is possible via the setpoint program.

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First of all (after some users dropped some, sometimes plausible, bad vibes here): GREAT! I love the new update. Well, it did not bring us too much new content, but a large variety of things seem to be have fixed and build the base for what's coming now. All best and congrats to the whole SES team! My little thoughts over the last 2 hours or so. Sorry, I have written it in Windows Notepad, as VIM is not available on Windoof ;).

I am on Windows 8.1 on Steam

* Overall: Not yet have had serious sound issues! Perfect! Have not yet played for a long time.

* I could not get rid of the "Backpack Q" (the tutorial "please press Q to open your backpack") message. So I decided to quit to main menu and jump back into the save, now I had a "Backpack (Y)" X-Box logo :). Open/closing the backpack once brought me back to "Backpack Q". I was happy but I am still running around like an idiot tagged with a large "Backpack Q" sticker. [In-Game-Progress-Update] now It's gone, but I am not sure why. Researched some things (printer, canister) and now I cant see it anymore.

* Maybe I'll learn it some when, but it is kind of annoying that pressing Q two times brings up the research interface rather than open/close the backpack and use a different key to open the research panel (how about "R" ;)). Seems again to be a design for consoles rather than for keyboard players and should be thought from my point of view. [In-Game-Progress-Update] I wanted to write "I hate it" first, but now I kind of get used to double-click-Q. Still think that there might be room for improvement.

* Died in a storm in a cave (well, near entrance, but in a cave). So the game brought me back, and I was not able to jump into the habitat to save. However, when jumping to main menu and back I was in front of the habitat. Now (currently) jumping into the habitat works again. Bug or feature?

* Performance update: awesome! Running my 5 year old notebook (Lenovo W540) here. Well, I do have warm testicles, but overall the game runs way smoother than before. Hanv't played a lot yet, so not much items around, but overall the performance seems to be better.

* Still have these "power nugget nibs" where the power nugget is actually empty but a little and fully useless peace stays there and has to be dropped somewhere.

* Color update on nuggets is awesome, way (WAY) more clear what's around! Very cool (very vivid, but cool).

* I was able to place a nugget on a platform (it was my second research chamber with the "!" mark) on a slot where there was a nugget already. All fine, the nugget jumped out, but ... feature or bug?

* [RESEARCH] I love that it takes quite a bit of effort/power and time to analyze things! That's pretty cool because I thought (and mentioned it few times) that a lot of the processes (like sediment filter and fuel condenser) are way to fast. No planning needed, just press, refill, press. Like it! It is sooo cool! A chest now needs quite a bit of effort in the beginning to get you the Bits (yaaa .. Bytes .. yaya) you'll need to get the large solar panel. After that it is getting easier to do some more research, so I can clearly see the progress here which is awesome! In the past it was always "set up this and that, and you'll have everything without a lot of planning". Not yet went trough the whole research tree, but cool.

* [RESEARCH] I love that I can chose now what I do want to research. It's (ingame) more like "well, nice. I might need this and that. Where should I go to get that job done." which is the intrinsic idea of Astroneer: have a plan, know how to reach your goal, spread out, do it. I love it!

* [RESEARCH] Acidentally set up two research chambers. The second one showed me this "!" logo on top which says "press me, start me". Intended?

I'll post some more soon. I hope :). To be honest I have not read the posts before this one because I was scared by spoilers and stuff. Sorry for my issue re-posts.

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One suggestion (annoyance): Q will open the backpack so Q should also close the backpack. Instead, pressing Q with the backpack open brings up the research tool screen thing and then pressing Q AGAIN will close the backpack and the research tool. Please, could you change it so Q closes the backpack? Maybe put the research screen on its own keybinding?

Thanks!

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* Maybe I'll learn it some when, but it is kind of annoying that pressing Q two times brings up the research interface rather than open/close the backpack and use a different key to open the research panel (how about "R" ;)). Seems again to be a design for consoles rather than for keyboard players and should be thought from my point of view. [In-Game-Progress-Update] I wanted to write "I hate it" first, but now I kind of get used to double-click-Q. Still think that there might be room for improvement.

* [RESEARCH] I love that it takes quite a bit of effort/power and time to analyze things! That's pretty cool because I thought (and mentioned it few times) that a lot of the processes (like sediment filter and fuel condenser) are way to fast. No planning needed, just press, refill, press. Like it! It is sooo cool! A chest now needs quite a bit of effort in the beginning to get you the Bits (yaaa .. Bytes .. yaya) you'll need to get the large solar panel. After that it is getting easier to do some more research, so I can clearly see the progress here which is awesome! In the past it was always "set up this and that, and you'll have everything without a lot of planning". Not yet went trough the whole research tree, but cool.

* [RESEARCH] I love that I can chose now what I do want to research. It's (ingame) more like "well, nice. I might need this and that. Where should I go to get that job done." which is the intrinsic idea of Astroneer: have a plan, know how to reach your goal, spread out, do it. I love it!

Agree wholeheartedly with @reto on these points. Great work SES with the updates to the research system! I love that you really have to work for what you want...there's more sense of accomplishment when you finally unlock something you've been saving your bytes up for. Much better than the old research roulette.

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One suggestion (annoyance): Q will open the backpack so Q should also close the backpack. Instead, pressing Q with the backpack open brings up the research tool screen thing and then pressing Q AGAIN will close the backpack and the research tool. Please, could you change it so Q closes the backpack? Maybe put the research screen on its own keybinding?

I agree the double tap to close your backpack is annoying, but when I evaluate the "research tool" (Backpack catalog) interface I realize it contains 2 distinct functions.

1. It contains your list of locked and unlocked crafting items. This is something I think most people will want to view at specific times such as base planning and making decisions of how to spend your bytes.

2. It lists the current bytes per minute and total bytes. This info is something I find myself checking quite often. The BPM to know if my generators ran out of juice or if a new research item needs to be loaded. I want to keep an eye on my total bytes to see how close I am to my next unlock goal.

I'd like to see the "crafting tree" kept to a separate keybinding as @Hamloxsuggested, but I'd prefer to have the BPM and total bytes proudly displayed on my backpack without having to "open it"

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Navigating the research menu is strange, I like that you can 'wasd' on them, but not knowing what the categories are via tooltip or what you're looking at until you scroll over it - the icons are a bit small / obscure for the buildings, and a bit large / ..huge for the smaller things like beacons and mods.

Now if we could get the research item icons in isometric view this might solve some issues with familiarity.

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Hi, First off, I love this game, was sceptical about getting it at first, but every update makes it better and better. This update so far is grate, although a couple issues/bugs.

1. It is quite annoying to open both the backpack and the printer panel with Q, as it gets in the way of opening and closing the backpack.

2. I was testing out the new research chamber and I was going to see how much Lithium would give me in bytes, but when I put it in, the Lithium disapeared, but jus slow enough to see that I could have gotten over 2000 bytes! Is there anyway to get the Lithium back or is it gone, and can you please try to fix this, as Lithium is quite hard to find.

3. I'm not sure if this has anything to do with the update, but, for some reason I don't seem to be able to make more building bays for things like medium printer, vehicle bay, etc. I only have 4 as it is. Could it be because my base it too close together, and is there a way to fix this?

Thank You

Edited December 18, 2017 by MagykVampyre

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After my first test, I really like the research update. Like someone posted in another thread, someone didnt like the wait while someone replied that its much better than spending time on hauling back research and getting junk.

I like this kind of work in games, except that it takes long to stay at the station to feed it before we get solar panels. Before I discovered that I could speed it up with more power sources.

The game runs a bit smoother. Thats all I have got to test so far. I wont totally dismiss my fear for disaster yet, but it is a good start. Its not perfect but it is more fun and realistic than the jackpot research. But I miss to be able to research stuff and find out whats inside. Or research tech like the way it works in "ufo afterlight".

To grind for bytes seems unrealistic. Because what does we find? Why does the company want that researching? Arent we producing any data or stuff for anyone? But it still works. It does.

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Gameflow is TONS smoother than before. Thank you for removing the RNG system; Research 2.0 is just what we needed.

This update, combined with all the previous ones (Terrain as a resource is still my favorite) has totally set up the game to be built upon, you guys are doing a fantastic job! I wouldn't change a single thing with the overall mechanics other than some tweaks here and there.

Power is a huge currency now and will be even more so when you add new things to build and maintain. An emphasis (ie suggestion labels/tutorial) on getting a basic power network up and running might be beneficial.

Right now the Backpack Catalog resembles a Fisher Price toy, so anything to 'beef' it up would be great.

Catalog menu is a little confusing. Needs more attention to what you have selected/unlocked/locked etc. UX is ok on KB/Mouse.

Would love to see crafting/production cost labels on the blueprints. That way we can get a glimpse of what the object is going to require before we unlock it with Bytes. This would also be super useful if you guys add objects that will require 2 or more different resources.

Rotating blueprint models on the catalog would also be really nice.

The magenta text has to go. Sorry! X)

Thanks for the update and congrats on the Alpha stage! Looking forward to whats next!

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I like the update but I don't like the same command to open backpack and research module, before I hit "Q" one time to open the backpack and hit "Q" again to close it, now every time I do it, opens the research mode, can we maybe with the other 378 keys shortcuts in existence to rename the research module maybe to "R"?

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Since I'm an engineering nerd, I love data. I thought I'd look at the costs involved for the new Byte system and share what I found. Click the attached image. To unlock everything it's gonna cost you just over 96,000 bytes. Hey, at least that's less of a grind than getting all the Star Wars Battlefront 2 loot boxes!

Also, when you start plugging unknown items into the research chambers, you learn pretty quick the different items have different byte values. I've seen some items that are worth as low as a couple hundred bytes (common green blobs) all the way up to over 9,000 bytes (more rare tech-type ones). I wanted to create another list with these research item values, but thought "Nah. That's a lot of work."

On a totally unrelated note...Wow, the new Ammonium resource sure is pretty! (Image)

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Points based research was pretty well foreshadowed. Kind of ordinary, but the game doesn't need to innovate everywhere, and probably shouldn't. Makes for a a much smooth progression. Main thing I liked about the old system was that as an experienced player, it was nice get new combinations of tech thrown at me and make the best of it (e.g. using thrusters for storage, and it might have been interesting to have shuttle but not rover)

Slightly disappointed to see the UI moving to a 2D interface projected onto a zoomed up object. Not as heavily as say, Subnatica's PDA, but I did like the interfaces have been largely part of the machines, and shared among players (sync bugs notwithstanding)

- I constantly find myself looking at the wrong item in the research menu (roller, catalog left side)
- Don't like cycling through research interface to close backpack
- I want a keyboard interface to cycle through the catalog groups
- Technology grouping feels arbitrary, and icon's didn't really help tell me what was there.
- wrench - mining, printing, storage
- stopwatch? (maybe compass, realized later) - exploration? worklight almost more mining
- fire? - power and oxygen
- flask - research, soil, misc mods, fuel. Chemistry?
- Green light showing on side of research catalog is nice passive notice, but the selection often changes when I have it closed, so I can't monitor my favorite next research
- I want to research found objects to get closer to making those objects - e.g. open 1 seat
- Green/red stripped unknown disappeared instantly when I tried to start research. https://www.twitch.tv/videos/210636989?t=03h19m26s
- Disappointed that researching a soil canister deleted the canister
- Power no longer prioritizes recharging players, have to manually grab a power source
- Compound going into build platform spots on built platform modules (such as research chamber)
- Cannot change backpack printer target to enable storage spot when no power
- Driving away while attached to giant solar panel does not disconnect https://www.twitch.tv/videos/210636989?t=03h32m53s
- Hard to detach winch, mostly tested on large wrecked solar panel
- Empty slots in wrecks?

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Also, when you start plugging unknown items into the research chambers, you learn pretty quick the different items have different byte values. I've seen some items that are worth as low as a couple hundred bytes (common green blobs) all the way up to over 9,000 bytes (more rare tech-type ones). I wanted to create another list with these research item values, but thought "Nah. That's a lot of work."

I already had a list of the chests in the game (with made-up names) and I am filling it with research values as I find chests. Even if I expect some of the values to change as more people have a chance to play the game and SES does a balancing pass.

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I'm playing on Xbox, & I love the new update! Just one problem... When I save & quit, then hop back on the game later, all of my rovers are half way through the ground. Please fix this. It's rather annoying having to dig out my vehicles everytime I come back to the game.

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I'm playing on Xbox, & I love the new update! Just one problem... When I save & quit, then hop back on the game later, all of my rovers are half way through the ground. Please fix this. It's rather annoying having to dig out my vehicles everytime I come back to the game.

Are you loading an old save or did you start a new one after the update?